Law Weblog

Report criticises criminal justice policy

Sunday 1 November 2009 at 7:41 am | In News | Post Comment
Gordon Brown’s adviser on victims’ rights, Sara Payne, has produced a report that will be published this week criticising government criminal justice policy
She calls for more “honest” sentencing system, improved trauma counselling for relatives of murder and manslaughter victims and a fresh approach to how to treat victims and calls for more police officers to combat antisocial behaviour.
Her findings will come as an embarrassment to the government, which has made improving the treatment of victims of crime a top priority.
Early-release schemes and decisions by prison governors often mean six-month jail terms are reduced to six weeks and 28-day sentences are waived to ease overcrowding.
In July 2000, Sara Payne’s daughter was abducted and murdered by a paedophile Roy Whiting who was sentenced to life for her murder.